Hypothetical Russia “4 nation” team

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Rough defence but amazing goaltending

Better defense than the Finns

 

[frontsfan67]

Better defense than the Finns

Debatable. Forward group is way better though and goalies are way better too. Finland is definitely the weakest team of the 4 at the tournament.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Let’s pretend the NHL ignored the IIHF ban and allowed Russians to participate.

Clearly, only active NHL players are allowed.

What’s the roster you think Russia will ice ?

My take:

Artemi Panarin - Evgeny Malkin (A) - Nikita Kucherov (A)
Kirill Kaprizov - Ivan Barbashev - Andrei Svechnikov
Alex Ovechkin (C) - Pavel Buchnevich - Kirill Marchenko
Matvei Michkov - Vladislav Namestnikov - Dmitry Voronkov

Vladislav Gavrikov - Mikhail Sergachev
Artem Zub - Ivan Provorov
Alexander Romanov - Dmitry Orlov

Igor Shestyorkin
Andrei Vasilevsky
Ilya Sorokin

Glaring holes are centers and the lack of good puck moving offensive defensemen.

Russia if allowed to play in 2026 Olympics would be a threat to win Gold based on
just goaltending and PP.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Let’s pretend the NHL ignored the IIHF ban and allowed Russians to participate.

Clearly, only active NHL players are allowed.

What’s the roster you think Russia will ice ?

My take:

Artemi Panarin - Evgeny Malkin (A) - Nikita Kucherov (A)
Kirill Kaprizov - Ivan Barbashev - Andrei Svechnikov
Alex Ovechkin (C) - Pavel Buchnevich - Kirill Marchenko
Matvei Michkov - Vladislav Namestnikov - Dmitry Voronkov

Vladislav Gavrikov - Mikhail Sergachev
Artem Zub - Ivan Provorov
Alexander Romanov - Dmitry Orlov

Igor Shestyorkin
Andrei Vasilevsky
Ilya Sorokin

Glaring holes are centers and the lack of good puck moving offensive defensemen.

Has Russia\USSR always been a top heavy country talent wise? Seems they lack depth upfront & on D.

Can remember back to 1979-80 season the US Olympic Team beat what was called
the USSR B Team in Lake Placid around Christmas and then the A Team in February.

Funny thing is that 1980 US Team were missing about 8 players who were of NCAA
aged in 1979-80 who would have been on the 1980 USOT had they hadn't turned pro
early like Steve Baker, Langway, Roberts, Dunn, Mullen , Nilan, McDougal and Gorence.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

This the guy that wouldn't let Michkov play?

And won't let Demidov play, yes

 

[Zine]

Has Russia\USSR always been a top heavy country talent wise? Seems they lack depth upfront & on D.

Can remember back to 1979-80 season the US Olympic Team beat what was called
the USSR B Team in Lake Placid around Christmas and then the A Team in February.

Funny thing is that 1980 US Team were missing about 8 players who were of NCAA
aged in 1979-80 who would have been on the 1980 USOT had they hadn't turned pro
early like Steve Baker, Langway, Roberts, Dunn, Mullen , Nilan, McDougal and Gorence.

Perhaps.

I've no idea how that Lake Placid Exhibition Tournament team was selected (see below), but only Tyurin, Tyumenev and Shalimov would've been legitimate "National Team B" level players at the time. Maybe a better indicator of depth is the 70-80s super series? Even teams like Khimik and Riga were playing NHL clubs pretty evenly, albeit only exhibitions.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the 1980 USA team getting slaughtered by NHL clubs during their pre-olympic schedule?


Goalkeepers
Shundrov (Sokol Kiev)
Bistrovs (Dynamo Riga)
Defenders
Presnyakov (Torpedo Gorky)
Vodzhankov (Torpedo Gorky)
Makarov (Traktor Chelyabinsk),
Paramonov (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
Sidorenko (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
Durdin (Dynamo Riga)
Tyurin (Krylia Sovetov)
Glukhov (Krylia Sovietov)
Forwards
I. Orlov (Izhstal Izhevsk)
A. Orlov (Izhstal Izhevsk)
Fakhrutdinov (Izhstal Izhevsk)
Kapustin (Krylia Sovietov)
Kabanov (Krylia Sovietov)
Tyumenev (Krylia Sovietov)
Tarasov (Spartak Moscow)
Evstifeev (Spartak Moscow)
Shumakov (Traktor Chelyabinsk)
Shalimov (Spartak Moscow)